Card dealing device



June 16, 1936; L. F. EBER 2,044,266

CARD DEALING DEVICE Filed Sept. 17, 19-35 Patented June 16, 1936UNE'E'ED STATES PATENT QFFEQE CARD DEALING DEVICE Louis F. Weber,Worcester, Mass.

Application September 17, 1935, Serial No. 40,952

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for dealing cards and alsoincidentally including shufiling of the cards.

The principal object of the invention is to pro- 5 vide a device forthis purpose free from all mechanical operative devices and of such asimple character that it consists of a number of discs equal to thenumber of cards in the pack and practically nothing else but means forholding the discs on a center so that they can be turned about thatcenter and means for holding them down so that they will remain flat andoccupy a vertical space equal to their thickness only.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is aplan of a preferred form of the device showing the pack of cards in itsinitial position before the dealing is done;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the cards all dealt and ready to beremoved by the players;

Fig. 3 is an edge View as indicated by the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

- Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 on enlargedscale;

Fig. 5 is a plan of the entire device;

Fig. 6 is an edge View, as indicated by the arrow 6 in Fig. 2, showingthe spacing of the cards in the difierent hands as dealt;

Fig. 7 is a composite figure showing the fiftytwo discs for an ordinarypack of cards in initial position, indicating the numbers of the cardscontrolled by the discs in the several positions shown, and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the positions of the discs when thecards are dealt.

The construction involves a base l adapted to rest on a table or thelike. It is provided with a recess l l which is a perforation throughwhich a headed bolt l2 passes and the nut l3 for that bolt is located inthe recess. The bolt is provided with a shoulder It resting against thebase l0 and with a shank I5. This shank l is just long enough to receiveunder the head a pack of cards and a cover IS with which the device isprovided. Instead of receiving a pack of cards, however, a series ofdiscs I1 is pivotally mounted on the shank l5. These discs are of thesame thickness as the cards and of the same number.

For a whist deck there are fifty-two of these discs. The cover i6 isheld down by the head of the bolt so that the discs are located in aflat condition and will not take up any more room, vertically, thantheir thickness.

The cover is provided with two notches l8 for access to the discs belowit. The cover it is a part of a casing having a wall 26 at the rearbetween the two notches IB. The ends of these notches it serve as stops,as will appear. The opposite side of this casing is open but it isprovided with legs H3 at the edges of these notches so that the coverwill not be easily bent at these points.

Each one of the discs is made with certain characteristics. Each one isprovided with a notch 20 located radially and of a size adapted toreceive a playing card in it but of a depth less than the length of thecard so that when the-card is placed in it, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,it will project from the circumference of the whole device. Thesenotches are all alike and all positioned the same in all the fifty-twodiscs. Also on opposite sides of this notch are two acute notches 2i and22. These notches 2i and 22 are of different lengths, as will appear.

When the device is set up ready to deal a pack of cards, all the discsare located in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 7. That is, the notches20 register and a pack of cards 25 is introduced into the space providedby these notches set up in registration with each other. Now, forthe-purpose of dealing these cards into four hands, the operator movestwo fingers through the two notches I8 to engage the rear edges of thenotches 2| in one notch l8 and the notches 22 in the other notch l8,being sure that the fingers extend to the bottom of the pack. Now, hemoves these fingers toward each other and toward the notches 20. Asindicated in Fig. 1, the ends of the notches 2i and 22 do not registerwith each other perfectly.

It will be seen that by turning the discs on their pivots from the pointof the arrow at the left in Fig. 1 until the finger which engages theseedges comes into contact with the edge of the notch IS, the discs inwhich the notches 2i are the smallest will be pushed through a certainarc. But the discs in which these notches are larger will be pushed ashorter distance, that is, from the dotted line in Fig. 1 to the edge ofthe notch Hi. In other words, part of the cards will be moved to oneposition by the action just described and part to a second position. Thesame action takes place on the right hand and the result is that thecards are separated into four hands, as indicated in Fig. 6. Each playerdraws his cards out radially.

From the numerals on the discs in Figs. '7 and 8, it will be seen thatthe disc shown at the top of the series represents the first, fifth andninth and thirteenth disc and so on in regular order to the forty-ninth.In other words, every fourth disc is exactly alike. Therefore, as inordinary dealing, the first, fifth, ninth, etc. cards will be turned tothe position shown by the top disc in Fig. 8. This is the hand that goesto the first player to the left of the dealer. The last hand, which goesto the dealer, is moved by discs 4, 8, l2, etc. In other words, thediscs are set up in regular order in this way and by turning them. inthe manner above described, four hands are dealt out in exactly the sameorder as they are in ordinary dealing.

It will be seen that this card dealing device I is without mechanismother than the discs which register with the pack of cards and that eachdisc moves a single card and always moves it the same distance. Thearrangement of the discs, of course, is permanent ordinarily and thecards have to be shuflied and cut as usual. However, there is anincidental shuflling feature because the cards are turned or deliveredin their proper places by the turning of the discs, each one apredetermined amount. The discs are returned, after dealing, by turningthem with the fingers in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2. Thedevice is of a simple character and the top of it can be used as asupport for trays or other articles.

Fig. 6 is drawn to show the discs separated so that the numbers can beplaced upon them to indicate their relationships.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A card dealing device comprising a plurality of rotatably mounteddiscs equal to the number of cards to be dealt, each disc having a notchto receive its particular card, each disc being the same thickness asthe card, each disc also having a notch in its opposite side edges andhaving a stop for limiting its rotation, the latter notches being ofdifierent lengths, the whole series of discs being divided in thisrespect into a number of series equal to the number of hands to be dealtand the arcuate lengths of the second notches in each of said seriesbeing the same.

2. A card dealing device comprising a series of discs mounted to turn onthe same axis, the discs being equal in number to the number of cards tobe dealt and each disc being of the same thickness as one of the cards,each disc being provided with a notch for receiving its card, whichnotches are adapted to be lined up with each other to receive the entiredeck of cards, each disc also having notches of different lengths and astop, whereby the edges of the second notches will be in differentpositions when the pack of cards is in place and by moving their faredges up into registration with the stop the discs will be turned anddivide the pack of cards into hands.

3. A card dealing device comprising a series of discs mounted to turn onthe same axis, the discs being equal in number to the number of cards tobe dealt and each disc being of the same thickness as one of the cards,each disc being provided with a notch for receiving its card, whichnotches are adapted to be lined up with each other to receive the entiredeck of cards, each disc also having on opposite sides of the firstnamed notch, a pair of notches of four different lengths and a pair ofstops on opposite sides of the first notches, whereby the edges of thesecond or side notches will be in different positions when the pack ofcards is in place and by moving their far edges up into registrationwith the stops on both sides the discs will be turned and divide thepack of cards into four hands.

4. A card dealing device comprising a base, a central stud carriedthereby, fifty-two discs mounted to turn individually on said stud, eachof said discs having a square bottomednotch radially located forreceiving the inner end of a card and each disc having means by which itcan be turned by a single motion and stopped in a position to move theentire deck of cards to four diiferent positions with thirteen cards ineach.

5. A card dealing device comprising a supporting base, a central studcarried by the base, a series of card dealing discs rotatably mounted onthe stud and resting on the base, a cover over the cards, and a studhaving means for holding the cover in position to keep the discs inproper place and in a flat condition, said cover having two notchedopenings through which the operator can have access to the interior ofthe device, the discs having notchesfor receiving the cards and notchesadapted to register with the notches of the cover, and means forlimiting the rotation of the discs for the purpose described.

6. As an article of manufacture, a rotatable disc for a card dealingdevice having a thickness equal to the card which it is adapted to dealand provided with a radial notch for receiving its card of such depth asto allow the card to project from it, for the purpose described.

7. A card dealing device comprising a series of discs mounted to turn onthe same axis, the discs being equal in number to the number of cards tobe dealt and each disc being of the same thickness as one of the cards,each disc being provided with a notch for receiving its card, whichnotches are adapted to be lined up with each other to receive the entiredeck of cards.

8. A card dealing device comprising a series of discs mounted to turn onthe same axis, the discs being equal in number to the number of cards tobe dealt, and each disc being of the same thickness as one of the cards,each disc being provided with a notch for receiving its card, whichnotches are adapted to be lined up with each other to receive the entiredeck of cards, each disc also having a pair of stops whereby by movingtheir far edges up into registration with the stops on both sides thediscs will be turned and divide the pack of cards into four hands.

LOUIS F. WEBER.

